As a rule, today’s teenagers problems are more complex than young people in years past, when life was simpler. Years ago, the teens were expected to help their families with chores, housework, babysitting and numerous other occupations, so they didn’t really have very much leisure time. In this modern society, teens seem to have more free time and therefore, more opportunities to get into trouble. In many families, both parents work outside the home, leaving their children alone for longer periods of time than is desirable. Parents don’t seem to have as much time to spend nurturing and guiding their teens as they would like. Discipline is also a problem these days, with parents being told not to be too harsh on their children, and no physical discipline allowed. Peer pressure has always been a problem for young people and still is today. It seems that teenagers feel they need to ‘fit in’ with the crowd and look like, act like and dress like others in their group of friends, or in the group they would like to be associated with. They are afraid if they are different, they won’t be accepted.
Parents and guardians need to be very observant of their teen’s friends. Young people should be encouraged to form friendships with children who have good morals, respect their parents and teachers, and spend their free time in worthwhile activities, since teens seem to mimic their friends.
Teens need to feel loved and accepted. Their parents should make every effort to spend quality time with them and set good examples in all areas of life. It is important that teenagers feel without a doubt that their parents love them, no matter what. They should know they can come to their parents with any problem and discuss it calmly and that they will be understood. Sometimes teenagers will ask their parents if they can do something they don’t really want to do, but are trying to ‘save face’ with their friends. If the parents think it is in their teen’s best interest not to allow it, or feel they don’t really want to do it, they should just say no.
If children have been shown love, acceptance and consistent, fair discipline from an early age, they will have a much better chance of becoming a more trouble free teenager. It’s far easier to instill worthwhile values in children if the training begins very early, before the child becomes used to being rebellious.
A teenagers problem can affect all of the people around him or her so if you have a teenager problem please look for help as soon as possible.
